Hello All,

I have been quietly watching the discussion on mite resistant bees, and
although my current addition will not extend the discussion, I did want to
clarify the history of the Baton Rouge Lab's involvement in this arena.

First, Dr. John Harbo and Dr. Roger Hoopingarner began the VSH program
(called SMR back then) by using a standardized procedure for measuring
growth of mite populations in 16-week field tests.  They never selected for
survivor stocks.  Instead, they selected for colonies that grew mite
populations slower than most other colonies.  It was from this effort that
John and I identified abnormal mite reproduction and ultimately Varroa
Sensitive Hygiene as the mechanism of resistance.

Second, the Russian Honey Bee Breeding program never originated from Dr.
Shimanuki.  Instead, Dr. Tom Rinder and his technician, Gary Delatte, were
the ones who originated and executed the idea of importing potentially mite
resistant stock from Russia.  It has always bee Dr. Rinderer's project.

Third, Dr. Bob Danka and Dr. Jose' Villa did initiate a bond-survivor style
test in Baton Rouge.  They worked on the project for a little over 3 years.
 Initially, they seemed to have little success.  However, by the 3rd year,
there were glimmers of mite-resistance in the bees that they were studying.
 They did not continue this work because progress in the other two projects
seemed to be a quantum leap ahead of them, and resources were limited.  The
Lab opted to stop that project.

Just a little about what they did:  It was not a true bond test in that
they did not keep the colonies until near-death as an indicator of
resistance (or not).  They asked beekeepers from around the country to send
them queens suspected of being from survivor colonies.  They then monitored
mite growth in these colonies and chose breeders based on slow growth in
standard field trials.

I hope this helps clarify the history of Baton Rouge involvement in mite
resistance work.

Sincerely,

Jeff Harris

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